🇺🇸 Trump Gives Ultimatum to Venezuela

In partnership with

Happy Monday, Patriots!

President Donald Trump has delivered his most aggressive warning yet to Nicolás Maduro, issuing a blunt ultimatum that sent shockwaves through Caracas.

According to the Miami Herald, Trump offered the Venezuelan ruler a safe evacuation for himself and his family — but only if he resigned immediately.

Maduro balked, demanded global amnesty, and tried to keep control of the armed forces. Washington flatly refused. Within hours, Trump shut down all Venezuelan airspace, a dramatic escalation that experts say signals the regime’s most dangerous moment in years.

Former diplomat Vanessa Neumann told Fox News Digital she expects U.S. operations “imminently,” calling the airspace closure a clear warning that Maduro’s command centers could soon be targeted.

The standoff is now at its most volatile point yet.

Kick off your week with the rest of today’s top Trump headlines below!

—Nick

In today’s email:
🔔 Trump Gives Ultimatum to Venezuela
🛡️ Trump Cites Presidential Authority to Halt Immigration
💔 Trump Provides Update on Wounded Guardsman
🗺️ Trump Forces Indiana GOP Into Redistricting Reversal
🏥 Trump Offers to Release October MRI Results

The Briefing Leaders Rely On.

In a landscape flooded with hype and surface-level reporting, The Daily Upside delivers what business leaders actually need: clear, concise, and actionable intelligence on markets, strategy, and business innovation.

Founded by former bankers and veteran business journalists, it's built for decision-makers — not spectators. From macroeconomic shifts to sector-specific trends, The Daily Upside helps executives stay ahead of what’s shaping their industries.

That’s why over 1 million readers, including C-suite executives and senior decision-makers, start their day with it.

No noise. No jargon. Just business insight that drives results.

Subscribe free today.

✅TRACKING TRUMP✅

Curated by Mike Luso

President Trump confirmed to reporters Sunday that he spoke by phone with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro but offered no details about the conversation, saying only "I wouldn't say it went well, or badly. It was a phone call." The acknowledgment comes as relations between the U.S. and Venezuela remain strained amid Trump's escalating strike campaign targeting naval vessels alleged to be carrying narcotics to the United States. The administration has vowed to intensify action against drug traffickers originating from Venezuela and has accused Maduro of direct involvement in the drug trade.

Meanwhile, the country continues processing last week's tragic terrorist attack in Washington that took National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom's life and left Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe fighting for his. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that Wolfe remains in critical condition, describing his parents as "devastated" but "positive" as they pray for their son's recovery. The President said he spoke with both families and expressed how deeply the nation mourns this senseless attack.

Check out all the latest developments and more below!

🔔 Trump Gives Ultimatum to Venezuela 🔔

President Trump delivered a stern ultimatum to Nicolas Maduro to leave Venezuela immediately before announcing the country's airspace should be closed, according to reports. Washington's warning was delivered in a phone call with Caracas and offered guaranteed evacuation for Maduro, his wife Cilia Flores, and their son, but only if the dictator agreed to resign on the spot.

The conversation stalled, with the ensuing impasse over Maduro asking for global amnesty for any crimes he and his group had committed, which was rejected. Maduro also asked to retain control of the armed forces similar to what happened in Nicaragua in 1991 with Violeta Chamorro, saying in return they would allow free elections. The final issue was timing, as Washington demanded that Maduro resign immediately but Caracas refused. Trump went on to announce Saturday that Venezuelan airspace would be considered "closed in its entirety," writing on Truth Social "To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY."

Eleven U.S. warships are bearing down on the Caribbean region with about 15,000 American troops filling out the complement as part of what officials have dubbed Operation Southern Spear. The largest U.S. carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is among the ships making their way to the region, with the Carrier Strike Group on board including nine carrier air wings totaling more than 70 aircraft. Secretary of the Navy John Phelan said the military's job is to defend the homeland, explaining "That's exactly what we're doing, and we're using our best assets to defend the homeland."

Phelan noted that drugs kill more Americans than have ever been lost in wars, adding "So I think at the end of the day, the president has correctly identified this as an attack on the country, which it is." The President has been very focused on shipbuilding and continues to stay after Phelan about the importance of rebuilding America's manufacturing base, with Phelan saying "We hollowed out our manufacturing base in this country. And it's really important that we learn how to make things."

According to a defense expert familiar with the country's military and state-linked cartel ties, Maduro and key players in his regime could now face their most serious threat yet. Former Venezuelan diplomat Vanessa Neumann told reporters "I think the operations will start imminently. The clearing of the airspace is an indication and a very clear public warning that missiles might be coming to take out command and control infrastructure or retaliatory infrastructure." Neumann explained that the targets have been identified through covert operations over the last several years by people on the ground, noting "So they're well-mapped. This is a capture-or-kill scenario, but there's a limit to how many people you can remove quickly." She warned that Maduro also doesn't have that many options and his military is very weak, explaining "You can't go after 30 people simultaneously, who are spread all around, but certainly high on the list would be Maduro himself."

Venezuela's armed forces, once among Latin America's strongest, have been weakened by years of corruption, sanctions, defections, and lack of maintenance. Neumann said much of its equipment has never even been serviced, explaining "Their material is extremely old, decayed, and has not been serviced. They've got junk from the Russians. The stuff they originally had from the Americans is decades old and has not been serviced. So, they have neither the personnel, foreign support, nor the material."

Ahead of shuttering the airspace, the U.S. officially designated the cartel allegedly linked with Venezuela's government, the Cartel de los Soles, as a foreign terrorist organization. Neumann, who has worked with governments on countering transnational organized crime linked to the group, explained "This cartel turned Venezuela's main oil company into a narcotics trafficking money laundering operation, using the company's access to international finance, until it was sanctioned. They were using Venezuelan military jets to bring in cocaine from Colombia, process it in Venezuela, and then move it into Central America and then into Europe."

Trump defended Secretary of War Pete Hegseth over allegations he ordered a second strike on a Venezuelan drug boat, saying he believes Hegseth's denial and would not have supported a follow-up attack if it happened. Trump repeatedly said Hegseth denied giving such an order during a gaggle aboard Air Force One, adding that he was aware of the allegation but stressed that Hegseth told him the claim was untrue and that he accepted that explanation without hesitation. Trump said, "He said he did not say that, and I believe him 100%."

When reporters asked whether he would have approved a second strike if Hegseth had ordered one, Trump distanced himself from the allegation while stressing that he trusted his Secretary of War, saying "No, I wouldn't have wanted that. Not a second strike." Still, Trump praised the wider campaign targeting drug-smuggling boats, saying the strikes had sharply reduced the flow of narcotics into the U.S. by sea in recent months and argued the vessels posed a deadly threat, calling the missions lethal but justified: "You can see the boats. You can see the drugs in the boats and each boat is responsible for killing 25,000 Americans."

🍟 Quick Bite News 🍟

🗣️ Trump stood by his comments calling Governor Tim Walz "retarded," telling reporters aboard Air Force One "Yeah, I think there's something wrong with him. Do you have a problem with it?" Trump said, "I think there's something wrong with him … Anybody that would allow those people into a state and pay billions of dollars out to Somalia." Trump said in his Thanksgiving post that hundreds of thousands of refugees from Somalia are completely taking over Minnesota with Somalian gangs roving the streets looking for prey as residents stay locked in their apartments and houses hoping they will be left alone.

📜 Congress will return to Washington next week entering into a dead sprint to wrap up work before year's end, with both chambers having three working weeks before fleeing to their respective districts and states. Perhaps the biggest looming legislative fight will be how lawmakers approach the expiring enhanced Obamacare subsidies, which dominated the recently ended government shutdown. Neither side has produced a fulsome plan on how to tackle the subsidies, though some solutions from Republicans like funneling the subsidy funding into Health Savings Accounts have been floated.

📰 The White House debuted a new section on its website called the "Media Offender of the Week," which is dedicated to calling out what it describes as the "Fake News Media." Beneath a banner reading "Misleading. Biased. Exposed," the page highlights media outlets and reporters, including CBS News, The Independent, and The Boston Globe. The site claims "The media misrepresented President Trump's call for Members of Congress to be held accountable for inciting sedition by saying that he called for their 'execution,'" referring to the ongoing controversy over a viral video in which six Democratic members of Congress urged U.S. service members to "refuse illegal orders."

🇸🇴 Trump suggested that Representative Ilhan Omar should be removed from the United States, referencing allegations that she "supposedly" entered the country by marrying her brother. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said "Somalia, where you have a Congressman goes around telling everybody about our Constitution, yet she supposedly came into our country by marrying her brother. Well, if that's true, she shouldn't be a Congressman, and we should throw her the hell out of our country." Trump also stated that the U.S. doesn't need people coming into the country "telling us what to do."

🎬 Actor Josh Brolin called Trump a "genius" in marketing during an interview Saturday, pushing back on the notion that the president was going to remain in office after his term is up. Brolin told an outlet "I'm not scared of Trump, because even though he says he's staying forever, it's just not going to happen. And if it does, then I'll deal with that moment. But having been a friend of Trump before he was president, I know a different guy."

God bless,

Trending Politics